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Intestinal conditioner pronutrients against growth promoters in broiler chickens with an intestinal challenge

Intestinal conditioner pronutrients are natural active molecules that improve intestinal integrity and digestion and have a positive impact on productive performance. They are a viable alternative to antibiotic growth promoters (AGP), such as bacitracin, and to other chemicals used as growth promoters, such as halquinol.

2/12/2020 Author: MV. Júlia Pié Orpí

Intestinal conditioner pronutrients against growth promoters in broiler chickens with an intestinal challenge

Intestinal conditioner pronutrients are natural active molecules that improve intestinal integrity and digestion and have a positive impact on productive performance. They are a viable alternative to antibiotic growth promoters (AGP), such as bacitracin, and to other chemicals used as growth promoters, such as halquinol.

Objectives

To evaluate the effect of intestinal conditioner pronutrients (IAP) in boriler chickens challenged with a diet containing raw soybean with antinutritional factors that affect intestinal health and integrity.
Comparison of IAP’s efficacy against the use of bacitracin methylene disalycilate (AGP) combined with halquinol (non-antibiotic growth promoter).

Materials and methods

Animals: 480 one-day-old male broiler chickens (Ross 308) were distributed into three treatment groups. They received feed and water ad libitum and performance was evaluated until day 35 of age.

Treatment groups:

“Control”: standard basal diet without growth promoters
“BMD+Ha”: standard basal diet with bacitracin methylene disalycilate (250 g/t) and halquinol (80 g/t)
“Nebsui”: standard basal diet with intestinal conditioner pronutrients (500 g/t)

Challenge: All groups received a diet with 3% inclusion of raw soybean, which contains antinutritional components such as trypsin inhibitors, allergens and lectins that negatively impact gut health and feed digestibility.

Evaluated parameters: Performance (weight, growth rate, feed conversion and efficiency indexes) was evaluated together with the economic parameters and the return of investment (ROI). Results were statistically analyzed and P<0.05 was considered as significant.

Results

The group with pronutrients obtained the best weight in comparison to the other groups from day 21 of age until day 35. At the end of the trial, pronutrients obtained 146.9 more grams/bird than BMD+Ha, and 707.7 more grams/bird than the control.

FINAL WEIGHT — **Table 1.** Superscripts with different letters indicate significant differences.

**Chart 1.** Weekly weight. Different letters indicate significant differences (P<0.001). Black numbers show absolute differences between groups. Red numbers show percentual differences between groups.

Daily weight gain (chart 2) was significantly better in the group with pronutrients, which obtained an improvement of 20 g/d compared to the control and 4g/d compared to the growth promoters during the last week.

**Chart 2.** Daily weight gain obtained from the difference between weekly weights.

Feed intake was greater in the group with growth promoters, followed by pronutrients. The control group obtained the lowest cumulative feed intake (table 2).

**Table 2.** Superscripts with different letters indicate significant differences.

Pronutrients improved feed conversion by 8.3% and 36.6%, compared to growth promoters and the control, respectively.

**Chart 3.** Feed conversion (feed intake/daily weight gain). Different letters indicate significant differences. Red numbers show percentual differences between groups.

Efficiency indexes (European efficiency index -IEE-, American efficiency index -IEA-, and productivity index -IP-) were better in pronutrients group, showing that these natural compounds have a greater positive effect than growth promoters in chickens under an intestinal challenge (table 4).

**Table 4.** Different superscripts indicate significant differences between values in the same column.

**Chart 4.** IEE (European efficiency index), IEA (American efficiency index), IP (productivity index). Red numbers indicate percentual differences between Nebsui (pronutrients) and the other groups.

The analysis of the economic balance concluded that the use of intestinal conditioner pronutrients is highly profitable and superior in the two other groups since it obtained a ROI of 43.74%, while the control and BMD+Ha groups obtained -0.92% and 31.27% ROI, respectively.

feed cost per kg

These results show that, for one million broilers fed pronutrients instead of bacitracin and halquinol, a farm would produce 147 more tons of meat and save 324 tons of feed.

Conclusions

Inclusion of raw soybean in the diets was an effective challenge for gut integrity and gut health in chickens, which was observed as a worsening in performance in the control group.
Growth promoters (bacitracin and halquinol) and intestinal conditioner pronutrients improved productive performance compared to the control.
Intestinal conditioners were the most effective solution to obtain good performance (better weight, feed conversion rate and efficiency index) in comparison to the use of growth promoters.
Intestinal conditioners help to improve profitability (greater economic benefits, smaller investment) compared to growth promoters.
Pronutrients, besides being more efficient, they have additional advantages: do not require a withdrawal period, do not leave residues and are completely natural.